


Brought to Light

by ShaeTiann



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Vector, Healthy Relationships, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:28:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26892193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaeTiann/pseuds/ShaeTiann
Summary: Dealing with the Star Cabal required a series of difficult and unpleasant choices. The outcome left Cipher Nine suddenly cut adrift and fearing whether his crew will also abandon him.Raina and Vector do what they can to comfort him, but some secrets are harder to accept than others.
Relationships: Vector Hyllus/Imperial Agent/Raina Temple
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Brought to Light

**Author's Note:**

> I've played the Agent story through twice on different servers; the first time, the ending was very satisfying, and I decided to make different choices in the second playthrough. The result was... considerably less satisfying, so here's my attempt to work it into the backstory I had already created for Amiil. It's still not particularly happy, but it's a little more optimistic than the game implied.

Something was wrong. Raina had known the moment Cipher and Vector had dragged themselves, singed and bleeding, back aboard the _Phantom_ after ransacking the Star Cabal's secret base. Vector had… _seen_ something, she was sure of it, but they had merely said it was not their tale to tell. Cipher, for his part, had been uncommonly quiet and withdrawn for the length of the trip back to the _Tenebrous;_ Raina could swear she'd once almost caught him _crying._

Their lover never cried. Something was wrong.

After he'd returned from making his final report to the former Minister of Intelligence, he had seemed almost dead. Oh, he put on the appearance of being fine, he could probably do that in his sleep. But his ice-blue eyes had been dull and lifeless, and his smile had gone no further than his lips. Cathar were difficult for a human to read at the best of times -- the ones who spent time dealing with other species learned to mimic human expressiveness -- but Raina had lived among the Chiss and their stoic microexpressions, and she could tell the difference between a sincere smile and a mask.

Cipher was wearing a mask that looked to be so painful it was tearing him apart. As soon as they'd departed the _Tenebrous,_ a route to Nar Shaddaa calculated into the navicomp, he'd sequestered himself in the conference room. Even SCORPIO was concerned, in her own pragmatic way.

_"Cipher Nine has not consumed his customary calorie load for the day. It will leave him vulnerable and slow to react."_

Lokin had taken the warning to heart; now he was shoving a tray into Raina's hands and a thermal flask of Cipher's preferred herbal stimtea into Vector's. "Just make sure he eats something, dammit. He'll listen to you two, at least." The relationship that had developed between herself, Cipher, and later Vector hadn't exactly been a secret among the crew, but Lokin never had been above using them to ensure the others practised basic self care.

There was no response when Vector knocked, but the lock hadn't been engaged. They exchanged a glance with Raina before pressing the door release. Inside, Cipher sat slumped in one of the chairs, elbows resting on his knees and face buried in his hands. His black hair, normally carefully spiked, was a mess, as if he'd been dragging his fingers through it.

The door closed behind them with a quiet hiss. Raina broke the silence first. "Cipher? You need to eat; everyone is worried. Even Kaliyo." Although Kaliyo's way of showing her concern involved throwing disgusted glares at the conference room door and engaging in loud, angry weapons maintenance in the lounge right outside to remind Cipher that someone was there. The comment was meant to be a joke, but Cipher didn't react, or even acknowledge their presence.

She set the tray on the table in front of him and hesitantly reached for his shoulder; when he leaned into her hand, a tension she hadn't noticed eased from her spine. "Cipher, please. You can talk to us."

"Can I?" His already rough voice was ragged. 

Vector left the flask beside the tray and knelt at Cipher's other side, gently pulling one of Cipher's hands into their own. The fine grey fur of Cipher's cheeks was stained dark from tears. "We know you keep secrets," Vector murmured, "we've always known. But this is something different, isn't it?"

Cipher swallowed dryly. "The secret that could destroy us. Destroy everything. I was a fool, and I'm so sorry. If you choose to leave… I won't be angry."

"Why would we leave?"

Raina marveled at how steady Vector sounded; the pain in Cipher's voice made her want to weep for him. What _happened?_

"Because--" Cipher took a breath and sat up, pulling away from them. His face was a mask beneath the devastation. "Because I'm not who I said I was. I never have been." His rich accent fell away, revealing something much older, rusty with disuse, but far more natural. "I'm a deep-cover SIS agent. I always was. Right from the start, before I even met Kaliyo." His eyes closed tightly, as if he expected a blow.

"You… you're not Imperial," Raina whispered, and he nodded. She stumbled back a step and sat down in the nearest chair. It was impossible to believe: Cipher had always seemed so indelibly loyal, even when he'd been dealing with what she now knew had been some insidious brainwashing courtesy of the Dark Council. Of course he had preferred to avoid killing whenever possible, but she had assumed that to be professional principles, not… what? Loyalty to the Republic? 

"Something has changed, or you wouldn't be telling us this now," Vector said. They remained kneeling but had removed their hand from Cipher's knee, giving the man space.

When the words came, they were halting and rough, like Cipher had swallowed ground glass. "SIS had a leak. A bad one. We thought the Empire had someone in the department, but we couldn't find evidence. I was chosen to infiltrate Imperial Intelligence to find out where it was coming from. Kothe… Kothe was my handler. We've known each other for years; he gave me the mental training to fool even the Sith regarding my true loyalties." He scrubbed his hands over his face. "It was never the Empire. It was Hunter. The entire time."

"Did you know Hunter before?" Vector asked softly.

"Only in passing. We'd never worked together. I'm astonished he didn't expose _that,_ along with everything else. Maybe he decided to just let me sweat, I don't know. When Kothe realised I was the one Keeper had chosen to 'defect'.... He did me a favour by not erasing my memory of them making use of the Castellan restraints. He let me know what the Sith had done, and that the knowledge had been leaked to him, in the only way he could without breaking my cover."

As he spoke, the Imperial accent leaked back in. Had that been a part of the conditioning the SIS had given him, too?

"You gave Kothe the Black Codex," Vector was saying, and Raina's eyes snapped to Cipher's face. He'd done _what?_

"I know what the Sith would have done with it. But I also know how Kothe would use it. He's not interested in a bloodbath, merely leveling the field. My name is out, now, and the remaining members of the Cabal know my face. Kothe's in a better position now to root them out than I could ever be." He laughed, but there was no humour in it. "I was tempted to keep it -- from SIS, from the Sith. Use it myself, but. No, I'm better used as a distraction. I told the Minister I destroyed it. And now I'm officially disavowed. By both sides." Cipher smiled down at his hands, bitter. "For the first time in over ten years, I'm only Amiil. It feels… uncomfortable."

"You said--" Raina searched for words, and Cipher gave her the time. "You said you've been _officially_ disavowed. What about _unofficially?"_ Words _meant_ things, when used by people with power.

"I caused too much collateral damage to the Republic in my effort to maintain my Imperial cover. The SIS has had to deny my existence to the Senate and the Chancellor, in order to avoid censure. The Minister can't clear my name with the new Sith Intelligence without the Codex to prove myself. As far as the Empire's concerned, I cracked and went rogue chasing a conspiracy. For which there's no evidence, because Kothe killed the agents the Sith sent after the Cabal's secrets. I may still have my citizenship -- both of them -- but I'm also a wanted man. Kothe and the Minister may both have jobs for me to do, but they'll be off the books. I'm a mercenary now." He looked up at her, finally, blue eyes bright with unshed tears. "You may want to go home. I wouldn't blame you."

It was so much to take in. Had she ever really known him? Had anyone?

Vector, stars bless them, had their hand back on Cipher's leg. "We must know one thing. Was your love for us real, or were we merely convenient?"

_Of course._ Vector, like Raina, had the ability to sense a person's sincerity. Cipher's conditioning -- _good enough to fool the Dark Council_ \-- may have concealed his truth from them, but feelings were a wholly different matter.

Cipher looked from her to Vector and then down at his clasped hands. "It's real. I _never_ lied to you about that. Both of you deserved better than that -- better than _me._ You two have been the best part of my life, and I'm not worthy of you. If you choose to go, I'll help however I can. I just want you to be safe. And happy. And if that's without me… I can live with that."

It cost him so much to say it, but he meant every word. Raina had known of Cipher's interest from the moment attraction had sparked; but he'd never been anything less than professional until _she_ had taken the initiative. They had even properly dated: going out for dinner in Kaas City, visiting museums, dancing. She'd never suspected he could dance. He'd made her feel like a lady well above her station.

_"What's it like, Cipher? To be an alien in the Empire?"_

_"Isolating. Lonely. We don't socialise among ourselves, or even live in collective neighbourhoods, because otherwise we would be suspected of_ organising. _The 'good aliens' are the ones who try to be as human as possible. And we're frequently desired by more acceptable members of Imperial society, because we're 'exotic'. There's a thrill of the forbidden in associating with an alien. People only like us because hiring a single alien makes them look like an exception to the xenophobic rule, because dating an alien brings some excitement to their lives."_

Her interest in Cipher had never been related to his species. He'd been a fascinating bundle of contradictions: kind and vicious, gentle and utterly cold-blooded, gracious and diplomatic and manipulative and capable of unspeakable cruelty when the need arose. He was clever and delightfully sarcastic, in a way that had made it difficult for her to maintain her professionalism. And he had accepted her -- illicit Force powers and all -- without so much as blinking. He had trained her, answered all of her most prying questions, and treated her as an equal in all things.

It had taken a while, but she'd eventually noticed that Vector couldn't take their eyes off the two of them. Raina had been the one to break the ice, and the sweet, proper Joiner had admitted their own interest; Raina and Cipher's auras together had fascinated them. The Nest had no concept of exclusivity in relationships, although having been human, Vector understood it. The adjustment period had been easier than she'd feared it would, but Vector was adept at sharing attention and time, and so was Cipher; Raina had never once felt like she was not a priority in their relationship.

Of course Cipher would want them to feel that they could leave him if the relationship was no longer what they wanted. When it came to emotions, the man was such a selfless fool. The love, the tenderness, the softness and respect and admiration in his eyes -- regardless of who he was, that had been _real._

She cupped a hand against Cipher's cheek, stroking her thumb over his scarred cheekbone. Raina had always been an outcast -- from the Empire, among the Chiss. Trusted, accepted, but never belonging. Not like here, among Cipher's crew; she had known the moment she encountered Vector, Kaliyo, and Lokin, that Cipher simply allowed people to be as they were. 

He leaned into her touch, just enough to press his lips to the palm of her hand. "What do you intend to do?" she asked quietly.

"Do what I can to dismantle what's left of the Star Cabal. And then… focus on enemies beyond the Republic and Empire, I suppose. The conflicts that require someone who can mediate, who can… balance the two sides." He sighed. "Maybe the Cabal once had good intentions, to simply ensure the conflict didn't destroy the innocent bystanders, the people who are simply trying to live in their worlds. I won't make the mistake of trying to rebuild that. Power corrupts those who hold it. Encouraging a situation where a truce might work, where peace might be a real option? I can live with that."

"Is that what working with Kothe will lead to?" Vector asked.

Cipher's smile was a pale echo if its usual self, but still genuine. "That's the rare benefit of being a rogue agent: I can finally say 'no' if I wish. I intend to investigate more carefully, and change the parameters of the mission as needed. If there's one thing I've learned from all of this, it's that things are never all they appear to be on the surface." He sobered. "Not even me."

"Then we will stay," Vector said decisively. "And we will assist you however we can. We believe in you."

Raina nodded. "Me, too. You can't do this work on your own, anyway. You'll need backup. And analysts."

Cipher's laugh came out a sob, and his hands moved to cover hers and Vector's where they touched him. "I don't deserve either of you. I love you both so very much."

They moved in to hold him at the same moment, and he wrapped his arms around them tightly. Raina caught Vector's eye over Cipher's shoulder, and after a moment they nodded. The life of an Intelligence operative was far more complicated than she'd ever believed it could be. But between the two of them, they could help Cipher stay balanced, and maybe even find who he was now that his masters had thrown him away.

**Author's Note:**

> Playing through that story as a triple agent was _so hard_ you guys.
> 
> Also, how are there not more Vector/Agent/Raina fics?


End file.
